Common errors in vietnamese english translations of 2nd year students majoring in translation and interpreting felte ulis in translation practice by nguyen viet ky and suggestions for improvement

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI University of Languages and international Studies FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER COMMON ERRORS IN VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI University of Languages and international Studies FACULTY OF

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

COMMON ERRORS IN VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH

TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING, FELTE, ULIS IN

“TRANSLATION PRACTICE” BY NGUYEN VIET KY AND

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, MA Student: Trieu Thu Hang

Class: QH2009

HANOI, May 2013

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

CÁC LỖI THƯỜNG GẶP CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM HAI NGÀNH BIÊN – PHIÊN DỊCH, ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI KHI DỊCH VIỆT – ANH TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH

“THỰC HÀNH DỊCH” CỦA NGUYỄN VIỆT KỲ VÀ GIẢI PHÁP

Giáo Viên Hướng Dẫn: Th.S Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng Sinh Viên: Triệu Thu Hằng

HÀ NỘI - NĂM 2013

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ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Trieu Thu Hang from QH2009.F1.E25, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Trieu Thu Hang

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to sincerely express my innermost gratitude to my

supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Thu Hang who inflames fervent passion inside me

towards research topic and research progress Without her continuously constructive feedback and overwhelming encouragement, the graduation paper could not come into being

Besides, I am deeply grateful to Mr Nguyen Viet Ky whose permission greatly

contributes to the completion of interview, class observations and questionnaire administration His shared experiences are of extreme significance for not only this research but also other generations of 2nd year students at ULIS, VNU I also wish to

extend my gratitude to Ms Ngo Ha Thu whose orientations are especially priceless

My profound thanks also extend to three beloved students, S1, S2, S3 who continuously spend valuable time and efforts contributing their sincere thoughts to diary, an indispensable factor for the findings of this research Furthermore, I highly appreciate the support from 81 students in QH.2011.E18, QH.2011.E19 and QH.2011.E20 Without their cooperation, this research could not have been completed Last but not least, I wish to thank my warm-hearted family for their immense tenderness, deep empathy, inspiration and support to show me throughout upheavals and realize tremendous ambition I also wish to thank genuine companions always beside me

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ABSTRACT

From the very first days of their professions, translators have always been entrusted with the role of a communication facilitator who bridges the gap of understanding between people coming from various cultures and speaking different languages Coming along with this trend, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU also strives to train high-qualified translators to meet the demand of the whole society With the deep concerns about the situation, the researcher would like to conduct a

study entitled “Common errors made by 2 nd year students majoring in Translation and Interpreting at FELTE, ULIS, VNU in Translation Practice compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky and suggestions for improvement”

The study aims at identifying common errors made by 2nd year students majoring in Translation and Interpreting in course-book “Translation Practice” compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky Based on reasons shared by students and experienced teacher, suggestions are offered for the improvement of not only surveyed students but also the next generations of 2nd year students

The major methods and procedures adopted throughout the study include questionnaires, class observations, document observations, diary reports and online interview A combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods enables the researcher to triangulate the data in order to produce the rich and reliable findings With this approach, the researcher ensures the validity as well as the reliability of the study Hopefully, the study proves beneficial to fresh would-be translators at FELTE, ULIS, VNU

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Statement of problem and rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Significance of the study 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Structure of the study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Translation 5

2.1.1 The concepts of translation 5

2.1.2 Translation quality assessment 6

2.2 Translation errors 10

2.2.1 Definition of translation errors 10

2.2.2 Classification of translation errors 11

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18

3.1 Sampling 18

3.1.1 Teacher participant selection 19

3.1.2 Student participant selection 19

3.2 Data collection instruments 20

3.2.1 Questionnaires 21

3.2.2 Class observations 21

3.2.3 Document observations 21

3.2.4 Diary reports 22

3.2.3 Online interview 22

3 3 Data collection procedure 22

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3.4 Data analysis method 23

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25

4.1 Findings and discussion from questionnaires 25

4.1.1 Linguistic errors 25

4.1.2 Translation errors ……… 26

4.1.3 Possible causes ……… 28

4.1.4 Suggestions ……… 29

4.2 Findings and discussion from class observations, document observations, diary reports and online interview 29

4.2.1 Linguistic errors 30

4.2.2 Translation errors 33

4.2.3 Possible causes 37

4.2.4 Suggestions 39

4.3 Comparison between findings from five instruments 39

4.3.1 Research question 1: Common errors made by 2nd year students 40

4.3.2 Research question 2: Possible causes 41

4.3.3 Research question 3: Suggestions 41

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 44

5.1 Major findings of the study 44

5.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 45

REFERENCES 46

APPENDIX A 49

QUESTIONNAIRE 49

APPENDIX B 54

THƯ MỜI THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU 54

APPENDIX C 56

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DIARY EXTRACT FROM STUDENT CODED AS S1 56

APPENDIX D 58

DIARY EXTRACT FROM STUDENT CODED AS S2 59

APPENDIX E 61

DIARY EXTRACT FROM STUDENT CODED AS S3 61

APPENDIX F 63

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 63

APPENDIX F 65

TEACHER INTERVIEW SUMMARY 65

APPENDIX G 66

TRANSCRIPTION OF QH2011 E18 CLASS OBSERVATION 66

APPENDIX H 74

TRANSCRIPTION OF QH2011 E19 CLASS OBSERVATION 74

APPENDIX I 82

TRANSCRIPTION OF QH2011 E20 CLASS OBSERVATION 82

observations

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Table 10 Suggestions offered by both teacher and students 39

LIST OF DIAGRAMS PAGE

Diagram 1 Data collection instruments 20 Diagram 2 Data collection procedure 23

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Diagram 3 Possible causes of common errors synthesized from

multiple instruments

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LIST OF CHARTS PAGE

Chart 1 Possible causes of common errors made by 2nd year

students observed from questionnaires

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Chart 2 Suggestions to overcome errors observed from

questionnaires

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TT Target text

ST Source text

TQA Translation quality assessment

FELTE Faculty of English Language Teacher Education ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VNU Vietnam National University

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of problem and rationale for the study

The massive global integration has witnessed a proliferation of translating as Munday (2001, p5) accentuates “Throughout history written and spoken translations have played a crucial role in interhuman communication” More notably, the 21st

century fosters nations around the world to come together in tremendous vigor to address global challenges and promote socio-economic development; hence, translators have been entrusted with the role of bridging the gap between people coming from various cultures and speaking disparate languages As a result, the constant and growing essence for translators is perfectly comprehensible, and myriad

of universities all over the world offer translation courses in their academic year According to Caminade and Pym (1995), as cited in Munday (2001) at least 250 university-level bodies in over sixty countries offering four-year undergraduate and

postgraduate courses in this art of science

Harmonizing with the blossom of discipline, University of Languages and International Studies, a prestigious institution in Vietnam prominent for grooming translators also strives to diversify and impose assorted pedagogical methods to strengthen students‟ translating competence Students majoring in translation are oriented towards intensive training from their 2nd year, which facilitates them to glory

in translation skills and lay a momentous foundation from the early stage In this training phase, more than ten generations of trainees follow the course-book

“Translation Practice” compiled by senior lecturer Nguyen Viet Ky What is more, texts in this course-book are extracted for both mid-term and end-of-term tests; therefore, translating texts in this course-book precisely assists translator to-be in sharpening their translation skills and harvesting better exam results

English-2nd-year students‟ translations Therefore, in order to enrich the trainees‟ translation capacity, the researcher would like to cast a systematic and close observation at the common errors made by 2nd-year students in translating texts and elicit recommendations for them

All these above-mentioned reasons have motivated the researcher to carry out a study entitled “Common errors in Vietnamese-English translations made by 2nd-year students majoring in Translation and Interpreting at FELTE, ULIS in Translation Practice compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky and suggestions for improvement.”

1.2 Aims of the study

The research aims at identifying the common errors that 2nd year students majoring

in Translation and Interpreting from FELTE, ULIS, VNU might confront when translating Vietnamese-English texts in “Translation Practice” compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky Once having brought these errors to light, the research investigates the possible causes and puts forward some recommendations suggested by both students and teachers The research is expected to assist 2nd year QH2011 students in particular and the next generations of 2nd year students at ULIS in general in addressing their errors and improving the quality of their translation as well as their translation skills

2 What are the possible causes of these common errors?

3 What are the suggestions in order to overcome these errors?

1.3 Significance of the study

Translation is a vast discipline of study and practice, which so far has seen a great deal of research works The study would be of great usefulness for the improvement of Vietnamese – English translation of 2nd students and assists students in strengthening their translation competence Besides, the research helps teachers become more aware

of common errors students may confront while translating and serves as a reference for them in the process of teaching translation The findings of this research also can be regarded as a valuable experience for the researchers who share the same interest in

this topic as well

1.4 Scope of the study

The study population comprises both students and teachers as the errors made by

2nd year students are detected and offered suggestions by from the perspectives of students and teachers Regarding students, the participants include 81 students of three classes, QH2011.E18; E19 and E20 They all gain experiences in translating Vietnamese-English texts in “Translation Practice” compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky Additionally, the population involves senior lecturer Mr Nguyen Viet Ky in Translation and Interpreting Division who is the compiler of the course-book

“Translation Practice” and possesses considerable experience in teaching Translation Practice for 2nd year students Due to time and capacity constraint, the researcher

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merely concentrates on detecting errors in Vietnamese – English translations in Unit 4

“Vietnam” The Unit is selected among the three themes “Vietnam”, “Economy”,

“Health” in the second semester for two main reasons Firstly, Unit 4 is advantageous for researcher to arrange time and conduct observations Besides, “Vietnam” is among the popular themes which students confront during 3rd and 4th year at university

1.5 Structure of the study

The rest of the study consists of the following chapters:

Chapter 2 - Literature review – introduces the most relevant published information on translation, translation quality assessment and translation errors

Chapter 3 - Methodology – provides a detailed description of the method adopted in data collection and analysis

Chapter 4 - Findings and discussion – presents the analysis and synthesis of the most common errors made by 2nd year students, their possible causes and suggestions for improvement

Chapter 5 – Conclusion – summarizes major findings, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter sheds light on fundamental concepts of translation, the role as well as the criteria for translation quality assessment, translation errors and the classification

of translation errors by analyzing, synthesizing related-topic previous works and indicating their strengths as well as weaknesses Besides, the gaps of previous works and the theoretical model which the researcher utilizes to investigate the common errors 2 nd year students frequently confront is also fully illustrated in this chapter

2.1 Translation

2.1.1 The concepts of translation

The concepts of “translation” have been thoroughly discussed by a number of researchers in various publications According to Hartman and Stork (1972, p.713),

“translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by as equivalent text in a second language” Hartman and Stork also assert that the goal of translating is to as correctly as possible all grammatical and lexical features of the ST

by finding equivalents in the TT It means that the translated version must ensure the accuracy of the messages, the meaning of words from the ST to the TT

The above-mentioned viewpoint was also supported by the renowned founder of translation theories Newmark Newmark (1995) defines that translation is a procedure

of transferring a written text into another language in the way that the author aimed in the text In other words, translation means rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the same way that the author intended the text From his point of view, Newmark particularly expounds on two key points which are the transfer of written text and the purpose of author; thus, translation means transferring not only language but also ideas and purpose of the author in source text

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Another concept about translation can be found in Bell (1991) who defines this art

of science as the substitution of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language This concept also put strong emphasis on accurately conveying the messages from ST to TT

Seeing eye-to-eye with Newmark and Bell, Larson (1994) reaffirms that translation as a process of replacing the form of the source language by the form of target language More importantly, Larson emphasizes two critical factors in translation process Firstly, translation needs studying the ST including lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation or cultural context Secondly, after studying the ST, it is “a must” to reconstruct this same meaning using the lexical and grammatical which are proper in TT and its cultural context From Larson‟s indication,

it can be concluded that reading and writing skills are crucial skills for the success of a translators In other words, the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary plays pivotal role during translation process The definition of translation is reinforced by Landa (2006) who defines translation as a reproduction of the meaning from one language to another language in written form

All in all, it can be witnessed that the above-cited definitions, though differed in wording, all agreed on the nature of translation, denoting it as the accuracy of the written transference of messages from one language into another

2.1.2 Translation quality assessment

2.1.2.1 The role of translation quality assessment

Although various researchers have dissimilar ways of defining translation, all of them share the same point of view that TQA is of great importance and benefit all the time Newmark (1995) emphasizes the great significance of TQA between the theory and practice of translation Furthermore, he states that TQA plays a vital role in translational discipline as it enhances competence, entails the huge improvement in

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language proficiency, background knowledge, comprehensive understanding about topics or themes relating to the translations and supports translators to sort out the ideas about translation

Besides, Schiaffino (2005) shares the same opinion that without means of translation assessment it is impossible to enhance the translation quality, nor is it possible to know if the translation quality is good; and, if it is good, how to keep it that way Translation evaluation provides a method to objectively quantify a process, reduce poor quality, increase customer satisfaction and create benchmarking as well as competitive advantages

The significance of translation criticism is continuously stressed by various scholars Tien and Bac (2008) also agree that the translation evaluation from teachers, professional translators, translating companies and clients could figure out drawbacks

in your translation which enhances your translation and your translating competence; therefore, it becomes an essential part in translating process

From above mentioned studies, it can be summarized that TQA plays a pivotal role for not only professional translators, their clients, translational researchers but also trainee translators TQA further enhances translating competence, language proficiency and clients‟ satisfaction

2.1.2.2 Criteria for translation quality assessment

The very fundamental model of TQA is proposed by House (1986) which consists

of four main criteria including pre-linguistic studies, response-based psycholinguistic studies, source text-based studies and studies based on pragmatic theories of language use Pre-linguistic studies cover the faithfulness to the ST In other words, an adequate translation should successfully convey the ideas of the original text Response-based studies can be approached from behavioristic views and functionalistic views Nida (1964) as cited in House (1986) proposes a criterion in which “equivalence of

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response” is the key point of a good translation The “equivalence of response” is clearly reflected in the principle of dynamic equivalence The dynamic equivalence concentrates on naturalness, the message and readability According to Nida, the manner in which the receptors of a translation respond to the transition should be equivalent to the manner in which the ST‟s receptors to the original Besides, it is the purpose of a translation that is of great importance in assessing the quality of translation Thirdly, source text-based studies are oriented towards the translation text The translation is assessed mainly based on its forms and functions inside the system of the receiving culture and literature Last but not least, a functional-pragmatic model of translation evaluation involves the analysis and comparison between the original and its translation at three levels, namely the level of text, register and genre These three levels also refer to the same conclusion that is “equivalence” is fundamental criterion

of translation quality

The above model asserted by House (1986) represents an early and general description of TQA Nearly ten years later, the criteria are discussed further by Newmark (1995) Compared with earlier criteria of TQA, the model by Newmark is particularly thorough since it suggests five essential steps from the beginning to the end

in translation evaluation process, including pre-evaluation and post-evaluation These five steps involve analyzing the original text to examine the purpose of the author, interpreting the method of the translator in accordance with the purpose of the author and the readership, comparing the translated version with the source text, evaluating the quality and finally evaluating how the translation exerts impact on readership It can be seen that while House (1986) merely mentions criteria during the process of evaluating, Newmark (1995) suggests vital steps to figure out the importance of readership in TQA, a critical post-evaluation activity

Building on previous studies from House (1986) and Newmark (1995), Tien and Bac (2008) synthesizes and illustrates a comprehensive and specific method of seven

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phases to evaluate the quality of a translation Tien and Bac shares the same view with House (1986) that equivalence plays an important role in the accuracy as well as the quality of other translations Besides, they support Newmark‟s ideas and also propose pre-evaluation and post-evaluation step The comparison between source text and translational product is the initial step in TQA so as to measure meaning equivalence and examine the accuracy of the translation Secondly, back translation can be applied

to identify the changes in meaning between the source text and the translation Thirdly, measuring comprehension from readership, clients or professional translations is implemented The first three steps are carried out in order to check the accuracy and measure meaning equivalence to make sure that there are no omissions, no additions and no changes of meaning, no over translation as well as no under translation Last but not least, it is vital to measure naturalness, readability and consistency The purpose of measuring naturalness is to examine whether the product achieves a natural form in targeted language The measurement of readability also supports the step of checking naturalness A good translation should be advantageous to read because it is natural, accurate and appropriate in style and format Finally, the translator should check the consistency concerning terminologies, names, places, capitalism, abbreviation and so forth These seven basic steps of translation evaluation can be applied for the translation of trainees

Nevertheless, from a new approach, more recently, Williams (2009) claims that it

is better to see TQA from a broader sense in which TQA can be the combination of both quantitative and qualitative method TQA can be based on statistical measurement, reader response, interviews and questionnaires No matter the assessment is on products, performance or competence, TQA should be drawn from the criteria of “goodness”, the achievement of quality Specifically, a high-quality translation should ensure validity and reliability Validity refers to an assessment measuring what it is designed to measure such as necessary translation skills for performance Validity also includes predictive validity involving the consequence of

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the assessment reflecting future performance Reliability is an assessment which creates the same results when repeatedly examined to the same population under the same conditions Williams proposes a score of questions in order to identify the reliability such as “Are there any biases or undue variations in results over time? Is there a mechanism for ensuring that evaluators do not fluctuate between excessive rigour and extreme flexibility? Is the evaluator always objective?”

Overall, researchers adopting different approaches have proposed different definitions of a good translation No matter what approach has been adopted, most researchers agree with Tien and Bac (2008) that a good interpretation must ensure

accuracy, naturalness, readability and consistency Accuracy means that the translator

exactly conveys the ideas and the meaning of original text to translated one with no

omissions and no additions Naturalness can only be achieved provided that the

translator pays enough attention to the style of both source and targeted text The product should be smooth and natural for the sake of the targeted readership

Readability is satisfactory when the translator makes no mistakes in grammar,

punctuation, spelling and so on; therefore, it is convenient for the readers to follow the

whole translation Consistency refers to the systematic use of terminologies, names of

places, proper names and abbreviation

2.2 Translation errors

2.2.1 Definition of translation errors

Prior to conducting empirical evaluation on the quality of translation, it is indispensable to identify the translation errors and their classifications as Schiaffino (2005) assumes that it is easier to agree on what constitutes an error rather than on what constitutes quality in the abstract, and that an important factor in quality is the absence of errors

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Mossop (1989) describes translation errors as “a given rendering will be deemed

to be non-translation if it fails to conform to the concept of translation predominant in the target culture” He identifies translation errors in terms of cultural norm and formal equivalence It means that the definition of translation error by Mossop (1989) includes the achievement of formal equivalence but excludes other critical factors such as smoothness, readability and consistency in translational product Besides, formal equivalence as Nida and Taber (1982) defines as a method of translating literally and protecting rhythm, special stylistic forms, expression in syntax and lexis, metaphor, word play and so on; therefore, formal equivalence is mainly used in translating poems and songs, not all kinds of texts

A more thorough notion of error is proposed by Pym in 1992 Compared with the definition by Mossop (1989), Pym suggests a large number of translation errors

However, these errors are not systematically classified

Ten years later, Aveling (2002) illustrates a more comprehensive and systematic notion of translation errors In his opinion, translation errors occur when translator fails

to gain equivalence, adequacy and accuracy This definition is more comprehensive as

it stresses that equivalence covers many different types Besides, it is more systematic because Aveling emphasizes that translation errors can be divided into two categorization including “dumb mistakes” and “deliberate mistakes” The former is due

to the lack of translator‟s competence, and the latter occurs when translator poses a purpose to recreate the text

2.2.2 Classification of translation errors

Not only the definition but also the classification of interpreting errors has attracted a myriad of efforts from scholars and researchers Nevertheless, due to the complexity of this practice, it remains intricate to establish a single comprehensive list

of all the translation errors observed This part, therefore, just attempts to review some

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of the most noticeable study intro translation errors, and building on those studies, the researcher proposes a list of translation errors which can be regarded as the foundation for the error analysis of this study

Hejwowski Krzysztof (1992) divides translation errors into four main types: errors of syntagmatic surface translation, errors of mistaken interpretation, realization errors and meta-translation errors The first type includes equivalents, false friends, calques and unjustified borrowings The second type covers misreading syntagms and wrong interpretation of verb frame, misinterpret scenes and scripts and misreading the text modality The third type covers TL errors, wrong evaluation of recipients‟ knowledge and insufficient of knowledge of subject-matter The final type comprises translation technique, additions, omissions, two versions, too many or two few footnotes, a wrong translation strategy, corrections and changing the text‟s intertextuality Nevertheless, this approach is complicated and troublesome for researcher to figure out translations errors of professional translators in general and undergraduates in particular

Three years later, translation errors were categorized more logically by the founder of translation Newmark (1995, p189) in which translation errors consists of two main types that are referential errors and linguistic errors “Referential errors are about facts, the real world, propositions not words” Linguistic errors involve mistakes due to the lack of translator‟s competence such as the use of articles, prepositions, punctuations, tense, voice, subject-verb agreement, word choice, spelling collocations, idioms and so forth The second categorization of Newmark is logical and appropriate

to evaluate the quality of translations in general, especially the translations of undergraduates as they are at the early stage of training Thus, the lack of competence

is completely understandable

While agreeing somewhat with Newmark‟s discussion, Nord (1997), nevertheless, suggests further that translation errors should be classified into four main

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types Firstly, pragmatic translation errors are due to the lack of recipient orientation It means that the translator has no specific targeted readers in his mind; therefore, he has

no orientation when translating Secondly, cultural translation errors occur with regard

to cultural-specific conventions or equivalence A more detailed explanation can be

seen in part 2.1.2 of this chapter In Venuti (2000, p126), Nida stresses that “Since no

two languages are identical, either in the meaning given to corresponding symbols or

in the ways in which such symbols are arranged in phrases and sentences, it stands to reason that there can be no correspondence between languages” Therefore, the failure

in translating cultural equivalences is unavoidable The next type is linguistic translation errors which Newmark (1995) also mentions The final type is entitled text-specific translation errors and it refers to the text-specific translation problem The translator has to deal with various problems in different texts

On the other hand, Schiaffino (2005) classifies translation errors into three principle categories Firstly, errors of meaning occurs if the meaning of translation becomes different from the meaning of SL Secondly, errors of forms involves an error

of grammar, spelling, and other formal error that does not change the meaning of the translation with respect to the SL In this aspect, Schiaffino (2005) shared the same viewpoint with Newmark (1995) and Nord (1997) The third categorization includes errors of compliance Although meaning and form are accurate, the translator fails to convey the style guide, preferred terminology, and other customer requirement which can cause unnaturalness, lack of readability and inconsistency in a translation

The classification of translation error remains diverse; however, most scholars agree with Wang Baorong (2009) Baorong arrives at a mutual conclusion that translation errors should be classified into three main types including pragmatic translation errors, cultural translation errors and linguistic translation errors Pragmatic translation errors are caused by practical issues such as a lack of receiver orientation and background knowledge Cultural translation errors are related to equivalent

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problems and methods to deal with cultural words Linguistic errors occur due to the

lack in the proficiency of the translator As Newmark (1995) points out linguistic errors involves grammatical mistakes, punctuations, collocations, idioms and so forth

Based on the above reviewed studies, the researcher has come up with a comprehensive list of common errors which is considered as the foundation for error analysis in this study The error list is mainly based on the theories of Newmark (1995), Nord (1997), Nord (1997), Schiaffino (2005), and Wang Baorong (2009) On the basis of these theories, the list of errors to assess the quality of 2nd students‟ translations can be divided into two categorizations including linguistic errors and translation errors Both these two types of errors are unavoidable as 2nd year trainees still undoubtedly lacks English proficiency as well as the background knowledge about translation theories The list of errors is as followed:

LINGUISTIC ERRORS Linguistic errors Inaccurate Accurate

Article Aeroplane is the fastest means

of travel that is in common use

The Aeroplane is the fastest means

of travel that is in common use Capitalization The students are mostly from

south east Asia

The students are mostly from South East Asia

I congratulated her on her success

Punctuation We all watched Titanic, it was

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wallpaper, you'll complement her on her decorating skills

wallpaper, you'll compliment her

on her decorating skills

Everyone thinks her saying is right

Tense She had written to him last

week

She wrote to him last week

Lexical choice I ran into my formal teacher I ran into my former teacher

Table 1: The model of common linguistic errors synthesized by researcher

Họ cần những kỹ năng khác như đàm phán, lập kế hoạch hành động

và xây dựng quan hệ

Although skills which have subject-specific characteristics are very important, students today need more than that They need other skills For example, they need negotiation skill

They also need action planning skill Building relationship is also an important skill which

Although specific skills are of importance, students today need more than that They need other skills including negotiation, action planning and networking

subject-16

students need

Accuracy Muốn thúc đẩy ngành

du lịch và dịch vụ địa phương, cần đẩy mạnh công tác đào tạo nghề, truyền nghề và phát triển nghề

In order to promote tourism, it is necessary

to stimulate job-related matters

 Omission of ideas

In order to promote local services and tourism, it is necessary to stimulate vocational training, professional

transmission and development

Naturalness Giờ thì ai cũng biết chi

tiết của vụ xì căng đan

 It is more natural to use noun in English Consistency Biến đổi khí hậu gây ra

những thách thức to lớn Hiên tượng này đang gây ra những tác động to lớn ở cực Tác động của biến đổi khí hậu liên quan đến lượng mưa tăng và mực nước biển dâng

Climate change poses huge challenges CC is

is having dramatic effects in the Arctic The effects of climate change includes precipitation and higher sea levels

 Inconsistency in the use of

CC poses huge challenges CC is abstract to us, but in the Arctic it is having dramatic effects The effects of CC includes precipitation and higher sea levels

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cao abbreviation Term Có 5 tiêu chí để 1 biên

tập viên quyết định một câu chuyện nào đó có đáng được đưa tin hay không Đó là: Thời gian của sự kiện, tầm quan trọng của nó và mức độ cảm xúc mà đó

có thể gây ra cho người đọc

There are 5 criteria for

an editor to decide whether an incident is newsworthy or not: the time, the importance, the venue, the incident-related celebrities, and the level of emotions it affects on readers

 The incorrect use

of terminologies

There are 5 criteria for an editor to decide whether an incident is newsworthy or not: timing, significance, proximity,

prominence and human interest

Table 2: The model of common s synthesized by the researcher

Summary

This chapter demonstrates a conceptual framework of previous studies pertaining to translation and its equivalence, the essence and criteria for translation quality assessment, translation errors and its categorization More significantly, a detailed discussion of gaps, contributions as well as theoretical background for this study, particularly the comprehensive list of errors which can be considered as the

foundation for the error analysis of this study is also displayed

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides a detailed description of the method adopted in data collection and analysis It comprises methods, the size and the properties of samples and a thorough justification of five data collection instruments Moreover, the data collection procedures are also clearly indicated

The researcher attempts to address the research questions from both qualitative

and quantitative approach According to Lichtman (2006), the fundamental distinction between these two research methods is that quantitative method explains a phenomenon by collecting numeral data and using mathematically-based method By

contrast, qualitative data must be analyzed by words, images and objects Johnson and

Christensen (2008) also share the same viewpoint and further indicate that by using statistical analysis, quantitative approach can test the theory and it is measurable, objective, unbiased and precise While quantitative research seeks for logical explanation, qualitative approach strives for in-depth description, the depth of the

phenomenon, discovery and shared interpretation Therefore, from a combination of

quantitative and qualitative approach, the researcher can compare, contrast, supplement and especially produce the most adequate outcomes Five main data

collection instruments including questionnaires, classroom observations, document observations, diary and only interview are fully employed in this research

3.1 Sampling

Throughout the study, all the selected participants were mentioned neither in real names or pseudonyms They will be coded with letters and numbers to preserve their rights of privacy Furthermore, the participants were selected via strict sampling procedures to ensure their representativeness of the whole population

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3.1.1 Teacher participant selection

Based on purposive sampling, an experienced senior lecturer coded as T in

charge of QH.2011.E18, QH.2011.E19, and QH.2011.E20 was selected to participate

in the study Having worked in training field for fifteen years in Translation and Interpreting Division, ULIS, VNU, T possessed considerable experiences and deep insights of students‟ competence Hence, the recommendations from T were especially priceless to not only students but also other lecturers

3.1.2 Student participant selection

The participants were selected based on stratified purposive sampling which

involves 81 2nd year students of three classes QH2011.E18, E19, E20 majoring in Translation and Interpreting Unlike freshman, these students are at the initial training process of translating; therefore, translational skills and other translating-related issues are totally unfamiliar to them Moreover, 2nd year students do not possess many opportunities like 3rd year and 4th year students to intensively and extensively practice translating, particularly Vietnamese – English texts Thus, the selection of sophomores was the most feasible means to detect common errors in translating Vietnamese-English texts

Besides, errors were detected from Vietnamese – English translations of 2nd year students in Unit 4 “Vietnam” in “Translation Practice” compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky Vietnamese – English translations of the 81 students in QH2011 E18, E19, E20 were also selected for the study The samples were selected for two principal reasons Firstly, the second translation semester of 2nd year students merely contains three units, namely Unit 4 “Vietnam”, Unit 5 “Economy” and Unit 6 “Medicine and Health”; thus,

it is advantageous for the researcher to arrange time to collect the samples, conduct interview and administer questionnaires Secondly, “Vietnam” is also among popular themes which students have to confront during 3rd and 4th year at university

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Among the 81 students, three participants were selected for closer observation

via diary reports They were from QH.2011 E18, E19 and E20 and selected based on

the criteria of the highest average score in Translation Practice in previous semester

With the highest average score, the number of errors could be minimized Moreover,

three selected students propose the in-depth and sharp recommendations which help

them earn high marks

Participant Class Average score of

Translation Practice

S1 QH.2011.E18 8.5

S2 QH.2011.E19 8.7

S3 QH.2011.E20 9.0

Table 3: Participants’ demographic information

3.2 Data collection instruments

Diagram 1: Data collection instruments

With a flexible combination of multiple instruments, the researcher can

triangulate the different sources of data and deliver a rich, reliable and

comprehensible picture of the situation and fully address three research

questions

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3.2.1 Questionnaires

Gillham (2000) stresses that questionnaires administration can gather data on a large scale basis, and the data are straightforward as the items in questionnaires are specific questions Besides, Dornyei (2003) particularly asserts that developing questionnaires collects a huge amount of information in a short period of time Thus,

by employing large-scale questionnaires, the researcher is able to effectively examine

the issue of the whole 81 students QH.2011 All the three research questions can be

disclosed via the questionnaires designed in the form of Numerical rating scales and

Multiple-choice items including both close-ended and open-ended questions

3.2.2 Classroom observations

According to Mason (1996), observation requires the researcher to immerse him

or herself in a research setting, and systematically observes dimensions of that setting, interactions, relationships, actions, events and so on; thus, observation can enhance the validity and reliability of the information if combined with other methods such as questionnaire Being well aware of these huge advantages, the researcher conducted 3

classroom observations to answer Research question 1 from the most reliable and

comprehensive perspective

3.2.3 Document observations

Based on checking model presented by teacher T from class observations, the 81 Vietnamese-English translations in Unit 4 “Vietnam” of “Translation Practice”

compiled by Nguyen Viet Ky were collected for in-depth analysis to answer Research

question 1 and triangulate with findings from other instruments to produce the most

reliable and unbiased statistics

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3.2.4 Diary reports

Bolger (cited in Dornyei 2007, p 134) claims that “asking research participants

to keep their records of certain aspects of their daily lives allows the researcher to capture the particulars of experience in a way that is not possible using other methods” Being well aware of that, the researcher invited three students to participate in writing

diary ton answer all the three research questions

3.2.3 Online interview

Interview can allow the researcher to examine the issues which are not directly observable Cohen (2007) stated that comparing with questionnaires, the opportunities for asking, probing and the rate of return are extensive Furthermore, Patton (1990) asserted that interview offers the researcher the strength to investigate participants‟ feelings and thoughts In his view, feelings, thoughts and intention could not be observed but had to be directly asked Therefore, the researcher conducts an online interview with teacher T in Translation and Interpreting Division who possesses vast knowledge and considerable experiences in teaching Translation Practice to address all

the three research questions from in-depth aspect

3 3 Data collection procedure

When fulfilling participants and documents selection procedure, the researcher invited three participants to join diary report after each Vietnamese-English translation checking session Secondly, based on theoretical background presented in Chapter 2, a questionnaire was designed and administered to three selected classes The administration of questionnaires took about 15 minutes Out of the 81 survey sheets issued, 71 responses were retrieved, making a relatively high response rate of 89%.Thirdly, calls and emails requesting the permission of teacher T who was in charge of three selected classes were firstly conducted, and then the observations were implemented A brief introduction about the researcher, the thesis and the purpose of

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the observation was clearly shown to the teacher and students in each class All the suggestions on the board were taken photograph and then transcribed to be saved in word document for more precise and comprehensive analysis Fourthly, based on the model presented in checking session of teacher T, the researcher gathered 81 Vietnamese-English translations for in-depth analysis Finally, a notice was announced

in advance to the interviewed teacher via telephone and emails to invite the participation Afterwards, the interview was conducted via Internet The aims of the interview were also to fully and reliably address three research questions

In summary, the data collection procedure consists of six main steps which are

illustrated as follows:

Diagram 2: Data collection procedure

3.4 Data analysis methods

The data analysis from questionnaires was based mainly on the calculation of

the frequency, the mean, the median and the mode The questionnaire analyzing

procedure could be divided into three main steps: stage 1 – analyzing the frequency of

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the errors; stage 2 – listing and investigating into the possible causes of such errors;

stage 3 – examining the helpfulness of some techniques in Vietnamese-English

translations

As regards class and document observations, the word documents transcribed

from photographs and saved in word documents were supplemented with the notes of the researcher for further analysis The errors teacher pointed out were classified into categorization and analyzed with specific examples Based on the model presented in checking session by teacher T, the researcher examines 81 Vietnamese-English

translations for in-depth comparative analysis to detect errors in order to be compared

with findings from other instruments

Regarding diary, the participants‟ diaries were coded into three main

categorizations, including common errors, possible causes of such errors and recommendations for improvement

For online interview, the researcher examines the transcription of online

interview and codes the data into categorization to answer each different research

question Hence, there were three main groups including common errors, possible causes and recommendations Afterwards, the data were interpreted and the exact quotations from interview were fully exploited to serve the research objectives

Summary

The chapter demonstrates a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods with five main instruments, namely questionnaires, class observations, document observations, diary and online interview More significantly, the detailed justification for the use of each instrument is also revealed prior to the procedures to gather as well as the methods to analyze the data

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of collected data from five

instruments, namely questionnaires, class and document observations and interview

respectively The data presentation is followed with thorough discussion and specific

examples as well The last but most important part illustrates further comparison

between the data gathered from each instrument in order to compare, contrast and

supplement for the most adequate outcomes

4.1 Findings and discussion from questionnaires

On the basis of the literature reviewed in Chapter 2, the ten types of linguistic

errors and eight types of translation errors were listed in part II and part III of

questionnaire in order to answer the first research question “What are the common

errors in the Vietnamese - English translations in “Translation Practice” made by 2nd

year students?”

4.1.1 Linguistic errors

Participants were asked to rate the level of frequency for such errors according

to their own translating experiences The following table summarizes the related

descriptive statistics:

Error in … Mean Median Mode

1.The use of articles 2.33 2.5 2

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9 Tense 1.89 2 2

10 Lexical choice 3.08 3 3

Table 4: Students’ common linguistic errors observed from questionnaires

Among ten items, up to eight items from questionnaires had mean below three which were rather low As item ten and five, namely lexical choice and punctuation received the highest mean, 3.08 and 3.05 respectively; thus, the most common errors made by 2nd year students were lexical choice and punctuation By contrast, the mean

of item eight, three and two about subject-verb agreement, parts of speech and capitalization was the lowest; therefore, students seemingly virtually master these aspects Articles, prepositions, spelling, singular and plural forms, and tense were among the errors students encountered but not frequently

The findings were totally comprehensible as students specializing in English, especially 2nd year students could virtually master fundamental aspects of grammar, including parts of speech, subject verb agreement and so forth However, lexical choice belonged to a broader field of vocabulary, which seems more challenging

In short, the most common errors students frequently confront were lexical choice and punctuation, and they rarely had problems in subject-verb agreement, part

of speech and capitalization

4.1.2 Translation error

Likewise, the eight types of translation errors were gathered from theoretical background research in Chapter 2 The detailed statistics are as follows:

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Errors in … Mean Median Mode

1 Lengthy and awkward expression 3.26 3.5 3

Table 5: Common s observed from questionnaires

Surprisingly, while linguistic errors had mean below three, 100% items belong

to translation error categorization received mean above three This comparison indicated that translational challenges posed more challenges to 2nd students than linguistic ones More notably, it can be witnessed that lengthy and awkward expressions were by far the most common errors encountered students, with the highest mean of 3.26 and high median and mode of 3.5 and 3 respectively It was understandable as these above-mentioned s in general were totally unfamiliar concepts

to 2nd year level As reviewed in Chapter 2, accuracy, naturalness, consistency, readability are among the fundamental and indispensible concepts of translation theories; nonetheless, students approach this concept at 3rd year according to curriculum

Chart 1: Possible causes of common errors made by 2 nd year students

As could be seen from the chart, the largest number of students, 87.5%

encountered errors in translating process due to the lack of translation theories It was

comprehensible as students majoring in Translation at ULIS were accessible to

Translation Theories at 3rd and 4th academic year Besides, above 50% of surveyed

students chose poor vocabulary and lack of translation skills as main possible causes,

proving these two items were also among aching problems facing by 2 year trainees

By contrast, carelessness and misunderstanding the ideas occupied the lowest rate, 24%

and 18% respectively It was surprising as students seemingly relatively mastered in

grammar from their own perspective

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4.1.4 Suggestions

Chart 2: Suggestions to overcome errors

The descriptive statistics evoke many discussions that need to be taken into consideration Firstly, it came as a surprise that 100% participants valued teacher‟s in-class checking session as the most helpful method to further develop their translations, showing that there still remains passive in translation improvement Nonetheless, more than two-thirds of surveyed students regarded online dictionary and Internet searching

as useful tools, so it is inferable that students are gradually better aware of shifting from teacher-centered based learning method to learning autonomy On the other hand, other suggestions such as paper dictionary aid, peers‟ comments, revision of peers‟ comments, and revision of teacher‟s suggestions are not appreciated by students in translation class It should be concluded that in order to sharpen students‟ translation skills, it is essential for students to take advantages of various means

4.2 Findings and discussion from class observations, document observations, diary reports and online interview